


One More Arrow

by MarkusRamikin



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 17:42:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18473890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarkusRamikin/pseuds/MarkusRamikin
Summary: Post-episode 12. After Madoka's disappearance, Homura Akemi fights on, honoring Madoka's wish to protect the world - but she cannot endure forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Continuity: the Madoka Magica TV series (not movies). There may also be references to the Drama CDs and spinoffs.

_He went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day, and came to sit down under a juniper tree; and he prayed that he might die, and said, 'I have had enough. Now, oh Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors'._

~ 1 Kings 19:4

Above the worlds of mortals,

Above time and space,

Above all the timelines in all universes,

A goddess, beautiful and terrible, sits upon a throne.

The perfect form of the young woman is clad in the finest materials, a bright dress wrapped around Her slender body, flowing splendidly down on both sides of a pair of crossed legs in elegant stockings. A gloved hand rests casually on the throne's armrest. The other one is a fist, supporting Her jaw as She gazes down at all eternity, ageless eyes glowing gold.

In some times and places She has an occasional worshipper. Has, for all times are equally _now_ to Her. These lucky people are few, and each has gained knowledge of Her only through special circumstances, for Her own nature dictates that the goddess be largely forgotten by the Universe that She once helped remould.

They call Her the Archer Lady, Bringer of Hope, the Forgotten, and by other titles. But even in their dreams those special people have never caught more than a glimpse of what She has become. She begrudges none the familiarity, but She prefers to spare the sanity of those precious few who know and care about Her.

Her gaze follows the infinite arrows of hope as each culminates in an avatar, Madoka herself appearing in her most benign form, saving a magical person from despair. This is Her life's work: to carry hope and salvation to those who, by fighting for their dreams, protect others and keep their universe alive. This task is what She traded Her mortal life for, gladly and with no regrets.

All of Her energies are engaged in this work, for the extent and form of Her power is the result of a wish, and the wish that made Her what She is was all about this very task.

And, on Earth, Homura Akemi fights on, hoping for the miracle that was promised her. That hope is not destined to last forever.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Homura had not heard Madoka's encouragements in months. Perhaps over a year now. She couldn't tell any more.

She did not complain. There was no one to hear her out, so she spoke to no one. She fought on, with a straight back and composed face, showing little weakness to her enemies and even less to her allies.

The others had grown wary around the quiet, unapproachable girl. They had their lives, their hopes, dreams, and regrets, so they could be human to each other. Homura had Madoka, and that was something there was no point in sharing. When Kyubey suggested there was no way to verify her story as something other than her imagination, he spoke an impersonal, clinical truth, describing the state of available evidence with no judgement behind it. It did not prevent him from noticing that her ideas at least carried some explanatory power. Her human acquaintances, on the other hand, would just consider her delusional, so she told them nothing.

When the best person to hear you out is an Incubator, you might as well be alone.

Homura left Mitakihara. She was not known to reappear in nearby cities.

This was not unprecedented. There were demons to be fought everywhere - even in the mountains, deserts, in the uninhabited wilds. Those were more rare, for demons were born from human emotions, around human settlements, and were more likely to be drawn to attack humans than to drift out and get lost somewhere secluded, or to be already born out there, of the misery of a traveller. But it did happen, and the little streams of despair and pain that reached those places were still enough to let an unattended demon grow in strength and guile.

So magical girls occasionally toured outside of their primary territories to weed out these latent threats. It was a different fight, more rare but sometimes more challenging. Not as well-fed, but with more time to develop, such demons could grow unusually cunning. Fascinating stories of dangerous adventures in faraway haunted places circulated among the initiated.

These escapades did not leave cities unprotected. It was rare for a single girl to control a territory by herself, so, when one chose to tour, there were allies left to pick up her share of the work.

Homura's departure raised few eyebrows and little alarm. That suited her.

She remembered reading, a long time ago, that some people would withdraw to the wilderness and be alone to better hear the word of God. She did not think herself a prophet, nor did she really believe Madoka would be more likely to whisper to her on her journey than in Mitakihara; she just thought about it.

In the years that followed she quickly lost track of of how many demons she managed to slay. Kyubey kept showing up for the used up grief cubes, disturbing her count. It didn't matter. It was just one day merging into another, then another.

Travel, hunt, kill, talk to Kyubey, resupply, travel, hunt, kill...

And now she was sitting under a tree in the middle of a near-desolate nowhere. The sun was bright and hot, but under the tree there was pleasant shade. She was glad that the sun wasn't shining in her eyes.

It occurred to her that a day which you can't tell apart from the previous one is a good day to die.

Homura stopped purifying her soul gem. It was not a deliberate decision. It was merely that the magical potential kept becoming harder to restore, with more and more concentration required to force the gem's impurities to transfer to a grief cube. One day she found that she had no interest any more in making the effort, so she didn't.

Soon she had to give up on her enormous wings. Being nearly raw energy-work, they consumed much power, especially when used for attacking.

Ironically, even then the prospect of dying in battle seemed as far away as ever. She was just too good. Her bow had by now become a highly refined art, efficient, deadly with even a tiny trickle of power pouring through the fine magical framework. Despite abandoning the protection of the wings, experience, alertness and well honed instincts kept her alive. Arrow after arrow, demons died at only a small cost to Homura's soul gem. It seemed almost as if there would always be energy for one more.

Kyubey noticed, of course. He tried to talk her into using grief cubes again. To her surprise, at one point he jumped into her arms, the way she once saw him do that with Mami, forever ago. The way he rested his head on her shoulder, curled into her arms, was so pet-like and friendly that Homura wondered for a moment if it was really happening, or if by now her mind was addled.

But she understood, of course. Everything about Kyubey, from his body design to his voice and mannerisms, had been engineered to affect cuteness and lovability to human girls. It was not well done, and sometimes he came across as creepy even if you didn't know him (and more so if you did), which made her think it must have been done more with trial and error than purposeful design, and stopped when deemed 'good enough'. Still, it tended to work, but she had to wonder what earlier versions of Incubator bodies would have looked like.

So the gesture had not come from any genuine affection of Kyubey's, and yet he wasn't trying to fake affection, either - a point that most humans would have trouble understanding. People did not really believe in minds and motivations that weren't humanlike. But Homura had been around the little monster long enough to know better. What would have been an abject lie from another human, in Kyubey's case was just an action that he knew how to perform because it tended to have effect.

And, despite everything Homura knew, to some stupid part of her brain it did feel good, just a little.

She asked him to leave her. He hopped down and turned around to observe her.

"Goodbye, Homura Akemi", he said finally. "Our time together has been interesting and I gathered much energy. Now I must find another girl who will form a contract with me."

"Goodbye, Kyubey."

She waved apathetically at the creature that had been her enemy and target so many times, but in this life had been the closest she had to a companion. He disappeared. Homura closed her eyes and touched her ribbons.

"I am tired, Madoka. You have no idea how tired I am."

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Clouds passed slowly overhead, thin and sparse. Her body ached, and rest was not coming. She tried to think of whether all her efforts after Madoka's ascension had been worth it, and found that she didn't know any more. Did it matter, if she was destined to end up like this eventually? It bothered her that she didn't know. Her breathing grew laborious.

The soul gem in her hand was completely dark.

She felt something approaching. Fast, as if from incredible distance. Something magical. Powerful. Not the evil of a demon, though.

A flash of pink - and, suddenly, just like that, a magical girl hovered above her. She was smiling. To Homura, it was the most gentle smile and the most beautiful face and the dearest magical girl in the cutest pink magical dress possible in all the universes. The sight was so Madoka it hurt.

She couldn't speak...

Madoka was right there, and Homura couldn't speak. All the emotion held in until now threatened to choke her, she was in tears (damned water stopping her from seeing Madoka clearly!), her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest, and her body was shaking. All she could do was reach up feebly.

The other girl gave her a look that, more clearly than words, said: it's all right, I understand. She closed her hands around Homura's soul gem. Time stopped.

Slowly, like a river of dark molten lava, pain and despair flowed out of the dark-haired fighter. Ten thousand little fires of exhaustion that she hadn't even been aware of were doused in her muscles and tendons. Tension left her temples and eyes. Her breathing eased. Homura hadn't realized it was possible to feel such overwhelming relief.

Time resumed. As she already knew to expect, the purification manifested as black smoke leaving her soul gem.

Homura discovered she could smile again.

Not trusting her voice, she reached with her thoughts. _"Is it time?"_ She could not hide how desperately hopeful that question was. At the end of all her work, her reward was coming. Homura's soul gem would disappear, and she would die, and then she would be with her Madoka forever.

The last of the smoke dissipated, and her amethyst soul gem shone purely.

It remained stubbornly there.

The sky and the tree and the hovering figure of her saviour receded rapidly, until they were only a faraway light in a dark tunnel.

Homura finally found her voice, and screamed.

Then all was dark.


	2. Chapter 2

"Akemi-san? Are you all right?"

A nurse was checking on Homura with a concerned expression. The girl opened her eyes, finding herself lying in a hospital bed. For just a moment her mind went blank, and she stared.

"Akemi-san? You were screaming."

"I'm sorry, it's nothing. Just a... bad dream." A nightmare. This was a nightmare.

"Are you sure?" The nurse smiled. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

_Go away. You can do this for me. Go away and let me think._

"No, I don't think so... Really, it's nothing. I'm sorry for disturbing you."

Finally the woman made herself scarce, and Homura was left alone with her panic.

Not this again.

There was no way another time reset should have happened. That particular magic had been connected to her wish to protect Madoka. Did Madoka's erasing herself from material existence amount to another death, causing Homura's wish to trigger again? No, if that were it, Homura couldn't see why it would take this long to trigger after Madoka's ascension. Besides, it was inconceivable that the effects of Homura's mere time powers could reverse changes that rewrote reality and went beyond time and causality itself.

But, if not that, what else was going on?

_"Madoka? Are you still with me?"_

Nothing happened. Of course.

Homura lay there in a cold sweat as she realized that, with how little she knew, anything was possible. She didn't even know if the history she was currently in had witches or demons in it. She hoped fervently to find no witches. The very notion that Madoka might have died for nothing in the end was sickening.

A peculiar brand of survival instinct kicked in for Homura: do not be directionless. Have a goal. That had always been the way to keep her soul gem from corrupting. That was how she had endured, refusing to admit thoughts that would lead to despair. Even in the most hopeless situations, and after every failure to protect Madoka, she would direct her attention towards what she could do next.

She thought for a moment, then hopped out of bed.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

The first practical item to take care of was an overview of her resources. Homura transformed and, with half-closed eyes, she marshalled her powers. Her soul gem assumed its usual diamond shape.

It was beautifully clean. The effect went deep; this wasn't the superficial restoration of magical power with a grief seed or cube. The difference was like being young again, compared to merely having had a good night's sleep. A gift from Madoka. There was a corresponding feeling of being able to face the world again, despite everything.

How long would it last this time, before she needed help again? Was there still a Madoka up there? Was Homura going to be repeatedly rescued from witchdom only to be sent back again? Or was she entirely on her own now, and the current purity of the gem was all that she had left? Homura pushed these thoughts aside, and focused.

Her wings came into existence easily, as powerful as she had grown them by way of repeated exercise. They too were pure again, without the unpleasant, reality-ripping effect that they had acquired throughout her endless war against demons. She flexed them carefully, aware of how she could do damage to objects in the room, or even bring the building down around her if she were to exert herself.

Homura raised her left hand. Precise lines of light visible only to her shot up and down, weaving together the exquisite magical architecture of her bow. With only a small infusion of energy the weapon itself appeared in her hand, deadly as ever.

She hadn't always used it in later years, being able to control raw magic directly, allowing it to erupt from her wings to annihilate entire groups of enemies. However, the bow was excellent for precision work and conserving energy. She typically used it to execute single demons or small groups of them, but, sometimes, in Madoka's honor, she would fight a larger battle just with the bow.

With how lost she now felt, it was an important memento, second only to Madoka's ribbons.

Besides, using it might delay Kyubey's and others' learning the full extent of her capabilities. This may or may not prove useful, but the possibility was one more item in her arsenal.

Homura felt her magical energies form a subtle frame for her old shield. She allowed her magic to fill the frame, and there it was: the familiar buckler. She had not summoned it much after its sand timer ran out during the battle against Walpurgisnacht, but somehow it felt right to do so now.

The timeline-resetting mechanism was, unsurprisingly, missing an essential piece that had disappeared when Madoka wrote herself out of existence.

The secret compartment worked, and contained, among other items, unused weapons that she had not bothered deploying against the last Walpurgisnacht: a few handguns, ammunition, a sword taken just in case, several types of grenades... Not very important, but they would come in handy if Homura ever needed to fight without expending magical power at all, or to lend some firepower to a non-magical ally. Still, it was interesting that the weapons were there at all, despite originating in a timeline that no longer existed.

Something else seemed different. It took her a minute to realize what it was, until she lifted the shield's protective covers: specks of sand were disappearing from the bottom container of the sand-timer, and reappearing in the top one. The container was already partly refilled. Homura estimated it would be full within at most a quarter of an hour.

Homura could feel the process consume minuscule amounts of magical power from her, and it hit her: she was doing that herself, out of fear. She was afraid of time passing her by, with no way to go back to undo mistakes.

As soon as she had this thought, the fear diminished, and the process stopped. She couldn't get it to start again.

Homura contained her frustration. Perhaps it would come back on its own when she wasn't interfering by consciously thinking about it. And, in any case, now that she knew this was possible, perhaps if she worked hard she could learn to control it at will. It would not be the first new use of magic she'd developed.

She allowed the flow of sand to be blocked, just to test that it still worked. Time stopped, obedient as ever.

Homura smiled without humour at the frozen, colorless world around her.

She resumed time, dismissed all her weapons, and changed back from the magical girl outfit into her hospital gown. She proceeded to less important matters, like washing her face and brushing her teeth, and all the other little things to do before she could leave the hospital and start looking for clues.

If there was a specific something or someone cheating her out of her miracle, she looked forward to finding them. Because, by Madoka, she had never been more dangerous.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Clues, unfortunately, did not magically make themselves obvious for her to find.

To the best of Homura's tracking abilities, which were considerable, there were no witches, nor any signs that witches existed. Inexplicably, she could detect no demons, either. Nor was Kyubey anywhere to be found.

Surveying the city of Mitakihara from the top of a skyscraper, Homura contemplated the idea of a world entirely without monsters. No more of the secret war. No more need for magical girls. It wouldn't be good news for Homura herself, who needed to replenish her soul gem with _something_. But it was amusing to imagine the Incubator's reaction to such a prospect.

In any case, Kyubey's absence meant nothing, if the previous timeline was any indication: he usually showed up only when there were grief cubes to be consumed, and had only started hanging around Homura on a regular basis once she had proven exceptionally effective and dedicated to her job. In this timeline, he wouldn't even know she existed yet.

Homura stepped off the edge of the skyscraper. She enjoyed the moment of weightlessness, the air blowing loudly by as she descended. Even if it only lasted a few seconds, there was a kind of freedom in it.

The dark-haired girl gracefully landed at the base of the building, materialising wings only for the briefest moment necessary. It was not a busy evening, but there was still no need to risk alarming any accidental onlookers.

Calling it a day, Homura headed home, planning to search the Internet for crime rate information as well as any peculiarities in current news and recent history. There was also the matter of dedicating some time every day to try to develop the ability to restore the sand-timer...

As peaceful as the city was, a lingering aura tickled Homura's magical senses. It felt similar to the too-familiar evil miasma that let demons take shape, although not quite the same. It was... weaker, subdued. However, it was there.

Homura wouldn't let her guard down just yet.


	3. Chapter 3

The next order of business was to seek out other magical girls, if they existed.

The Internet yielded no surprises: suicide and motiveless crime rates were as expected, magical girls were only known as a fictional trope, and neither Incubators nor magical threats were common knowledge. It was now safe for Homura to reject most of her crazier hypotheses as to what was going on.

Having to work with a completely unprecedented timeline felt a little like a job of espionage, entering a society of strangers whose customs she needed to be aware of. Apparently, at least the mundane world was still a familiar place. Whatever anomalies existed that might provide clues, aside from the glaring absence of demons, would be magical in nature, and magical girls would be the most likely people to know about them.

Homura decided that she would try attending school after all, at least for a while. She did not know if this would prove to be a valuable enough use of her time, but she could easily quit any time she wanted; fixing the consequences if that proved to be a bad move would be harder. In any case, previously at least three magical girls had attended the school she was transferring to, so it was as good a place as any to start looking for them.

Come to think of it, with no Kyubey-hunting to do, she might as well try to hurry up the transfer process. After all, she was a poor sickly girl who'd spent so much time in a hospital with her heart condition; surely the principal would see that she needed to catch up and couldn't afford to waste a day...

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

"Please introduce yourself, Akemi-san!"

On the 20th, the first item was mathematics.

"My name is Homura Akemi. It is a pleasure to meet you." She bowed to the class. Shallowly.

She turned to correctly write out her name on the whiteboard in precise, elegant strokes, then turned back to the class like a queen looking down at her subjects. They were all staring at her in varying degrees of awe.

Sayaka and Hitomi were there. Sayaka was frowning for some reason. Homura's composed expression betrayed none of her thoughts as she fought down memories. What would have been Madoka's chair was empty, like last time.

"Akemi-san?" The teacher said awkwardly. Homura decided to stop making him squirm, and headed for her chair.

There was no way to tell if Sayaka had been contracted yet. Probably not, but Homura wasn't taking anything for granted any more. It was a curious feeling, for the first time hoping the answer would be yes, rather than wishing Sayaka would just stay away from Kyubey. A contracted Sayaka Miki might know something useful. An uncontracted one was an inconsequential prop.

This early it was unlikely. Still... worth testing. She sent her thoughts to no one in particular.

_"Can anyone here hear me?"_

No response. She watched, but Sayaka showed no sign that she was aware of anything.

_"Who is this?"_

Mami Tomoe's mental voice carried a note of surprise and caution. Homura blinked. Of course, Mami would be in range.

Homura did her best to remember the kind and friendly Tomoe-sempai she had first met, a person to whom she could respond warmly, and forget the ignorant, fragile girl who had caused her so much trouble, and even tried to kill her on occasion. This time there was no obvious benefit to being hostile.

 _"I... Good morning. My name is Homura Akemi. I've just transferred to this school"_ , she thought back.

 _"A pleasure to meet you, Akemi-san. My name is Mami Tomoe. Welcome to Mitakihara!"_ The older girl quickly recovered her positive outward demeanour.

 _"Thank you, Tomoe-san",_ Homura responded in polite tone. _"Are there many more of us in this city?"_

What Homura really wanted to know was whether Mami would find the question surprising. Was this a reality where magical girls cooperated, or guarded territories jealously? But the other girl answered matter-of-factly.

_"Currently just me. And now you, it seems. Although I'm expecting another magical girl soon, she visits often... Oh, I'm sorry but the teacher is talking to me..."_

Well, that was something.

By coincidence, Homura was soon being called to the whiteboard as well. The problem to solve was a different one than what she was used to, but she had left far behind the Homura for whom high school math could be troublesome. She saw immediately the direction that would take her to the solution, and attacked the problem with a ruthlessness she wished she could apply to her real troubles. That was part of the beauty of mathematics: well-defined problems rewarded clear and purposeful thinking with unambiguously right answers. If only real life could be like that.

A short while after Homura was back in her seat, ignoring the classmates' awed whispers, Mami called back.

_"Akemi-san?"_

_"I'm here. I hope I didn't get you in trouble with the teacher."_

_"Not at all, but it's still inconvenient for me to talk. Shall we meet during the lunch break?"_

Homura considered for a moment. Mami held this territory (even if that was easily changed, if Homura so chose) and it was natural that she'd want to meet a newcomer and assess where they stood regarding each other. However, Homura preferred the meeting to not be a rushed one. And, just in case, not around civilians.

_"I am afraid I will be going to the nurse's office during the break. Let us meet after school, if that suits you."_

_"Certainly! Are you all right?"_

_"I'm fine, please don't worry. But I only healed my condition a few days ago, and I'll be expected to go. So, I guess, see you after school."_

_"I'm looking forward to meeting you in person."_

That went well enough, Homura thought.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Mami had looked forward to this late-afternoon meeting with the new girl just as much as she had to what proved to be a rather brief conversation after school. It would be nice if Homura Akemi were someone she could take under her wing, as a younger magical girl and, perhaps, a friend.

As it turned out, the other girl lived alone, and her aloof behaviour almost guaranteed she had no friends here yet. But perhaps she would warm to a fellow magical girl, after they've worked together for a time. Furthermore, Akemi admitted that she had not held a territory before, which to Mami screamed of lack of experience and combat ability. Naturally, Mami would be generous and put in the time to teach her the finer points of being a magical girl. Of course, she hadn't mentioned that yet.

They agreed to meet in the evening to hunt demons together, as a way to get to know each other better. There was an obvious undercurrent of a contest here, establishing hierarchy. Mami was looking forward to impressing Akemi-san. That shouldn't be hard: the dark-haired girl's eyes widened briefly when Mami mentioned demons.

"There. I get five of them clearly, but it could be a dozen or more", Mami said. "They must have been forming for a few days, and they are still dormant. But as usual, once they sense our magic they will activate very quickly"

"Yes, I sense them too. Fourteen in total."

Mami glanced sideways at the other girl. Homura was observing the cargo doors to the abandoned warehouse calmly, as if unaware that she'd just made a very presumptuous boast. The older girl was about to say something, when the doors opened and the tall figures of the enemy poured out. The demonic shadow was around the girls instantly.

If Mami had ever seen a witch Barrier, she would have immediately recognized the shadow as its lesser cousin. There was no surreal montage reflecting the life and broken psyche of the owner of the pocket dimension: demons were much simpler creatures, with little in the way of memories to project onto the environment.

However, everything that wasn't immediately around her seemed far away, dimmed, quiet and unimportant to any onlooker. She could still see the buildings and the skyline of the city outside the shadow, but without her magical gift it would have been next to impossible to keep attention on them. It worked similarly the other way around, for people looking on from the outside. That was how demons trapped people and kept themselves out of the public eye. At least it also conveniently concealed the flash and sound of the battles which magical girls fought with them.

Four, eight, twelve... Mami noticed, with some dismay, that there seemed to be exactly fourteen silhouettes. She had no idea how much more experience she herself needed before she could discern each individual demon through that all-obscuring evil miasma. Perhaps this was Akemi's talent, especially acute magical senses? What sort of wish would lead to that?

In any case, the group, while sizeable and dangerous, was only freshly born, and wouldn't be a greater threat than some others Mami had destroyed in the past.

As usual, Mami felt fear. As usual, she overcame it with grace.

"I'll begin, if you don't mind. Please join whenever you feel ready." Mami smiled at Homura, and ran forward, putting the dark-haired girl behind her so as to be able to protect them both. She began her most elegant transformation. Step, step, twist, turn... every piece of her magical garment falling into place in perfect choreography. Once the hair implements were in place, she was done. She had created nine light muskets in the process, and started firing them in fluid motions, as if continuing the dance.

The demons fired back immediately. Lines of magical energy snapped at the girls. Mami, still shooting, conjured ribbons with reflective surfaces to send the attacks past her. She felt pain in the elbow and hip where two beams grazed her and her magic absorbed the damage, but that was easy to shrug off. Most attacks were successfully deflected or stopped; a few missed on their own. She managed to kill two demons before running out of muskets. Instead of creating more, she just tightened her defenses. She wanted to see what Homura would do.

The other girl joined her side, though keeping space between them. She transformed simply. One moment, the girl was in her normal clothes; the next, a flash of magic announced she was a magical girl. She did not raise any magical defenses, but that meant little, Mami knew. Not everyone had something that could be used that way, and many fighters relied on quickness or all-out offense to win, only raising crude barriers of energy when absolutely necessary.

The first enemy barrage aimed at Homura she sidestepped in a casual, practiced move, her long hair following behind her like a cape. The second seemed poorly aimed, and only involved a few shots, so the dark-haired girl only half-turned and all the lines of energy missed her. Mami could only admire such economy of movement.

A number of delayed attacks, off-rhythm with the rest of the salvo, snapped at Homura. Mami expected her to frantically jump or dodge aside.

A pair of pure-white wings shielded the girl briefly, giving her an angelic look. The magical lines died on contact.

Homura Akemi emerged from the whiteness, appearing uninterested in the spectacle she was creating. She raised her hand, and the gem on top of it glowed an amethyst, magical light. A bow appeared in her hand, which she immediately drew and aimed.

Mami turned her attention back to the approaching demons, interested in what the effect would be, and determined to top it regardless. She twisted in place, surrounding herself with a large ring of muskets. This time some of the bullets would explode in thick, long ribbons to entangle the enemies, dominating the battlefield completely and ensuring victory.

In hardly more than an eyeblink, twelve arrows found their targets, each skewering the head of one of the remaining demons.

Mami was quietly agog. _How did she do that?_

Homura lowered her hand, the bow already gone. Each hit was enough. As the monsters dissolved into nothingness, Mami felt the unused energy of Homura's arrows being released. The overkill was minimal; the dark-haired girl had judged well how much power to infuse into every shot.

The demon-shadow lifted, letting reality look like itself again. The two girls walked together to pick up the dropped grief cubes. Mami watched Homura touching one of the trophies to her soul gem, and only a tiny speck of darkness transferred before the amethyst-colored jewel shone purely again. True, the battle against freshly-formed, inexperienced demons had been short, and Mami hadn't expended much more energy on her ribbons and muskets. The cube she used on herself also had some leftover potential in it afterwards. But her expense had been for a much lower kill count. If the other girl had intended to show her up, she certainly managed to.

Mami let her unused weapons disappear and sighed inwardly. Time to lose with good grace.

"Your use of magic is very efficient, Akemi-san." She smiled at the other girl.

Homura inclined her head in polite acceptance of the compliment.

"Thank you", she said, then paused for a moment. "This many demons born in one place - is that normal around here? I mean, I haven't seen a single one since I arrived."

"When was that?"

"Three days ago."

"So you weren't there when it happened..." mused Mami. "Still, I thought you knew."

"What do you mean?" Homura seemed genuinely confused now.

Mami looked at her for a moment, then decided to just tell her.

"Four days ago, something wiped out all demons in Mitakihara. Not permanently, just killed all the ones that were active at the time."

"Another magical girl?"

"No, it didn't seem like it. I don't really know what it was. It felt like a gigantic explosion of magic somewhere in the city. I'd never felt anything like that. It left no demons in the city, and it blew away the miasma as well."

"I've never heard of anything like that, either", Homura commented, frowning at a grief cube in her hand before pocketing it, as if something about it puzzled her.

"I've talked to a few magical girls from neighbouring cities since then. Nobody has any idea what to think." Mami shrugged.

"Did they believe you, when this is so unprecedented?"

"Oh, some of them felt it too, especially my friend in Kasamino."

"The one that you said is visiting?"

Homura turned towards the warehouse doors. Mami instinctively followed.

"Well, yes. Why are we going in here?"

"I still feel something."

Mami frowned behind Homura's back. The evil remaining in the air felt like mere residue to her, but she wasn't going to assume the other girl wrong twice in a row without good reason.

"So, if all demons had been wiped out, how did you know we'd find any today?"

Mami blinked. It was a fair question, and Homura didn't seem to intend offense.

"I started finding them again yesterday. Only two, but still. The miasma has been coming back, too. It's not as strong as it used to be, but I could sort of... follow the currents, if you know what I mean?"

Homura nodded without diverting her attention from the building in front of them. Mami continued.

"It's something I learned while patrolling, as I got more familiar with the city. If I could go after where this smog seemed to concentrate, I could predict where demons would be born, and kill them early, before they had a chance to harm anyone. It's been saving me a lot of time."

"That's an interesting idea", Homura conceded. "Combined with how they tend to get agitated and birth early when a magical girl is nearby, you could keep civilian casualties very low."

Mami nodded, smiling, then said "That's the idea, yes", since Homura's hidden talents likely didn't include 360-degree vision.

"Unfortunately, some girls think it's too much work and too little fun. They prefer more challenge", she sighed. Oh, Kyouko...

"That's stupid", Homura snapped. "If you want challenge, you take a holiday, get a replacement, and go hunting outside of cities. You don't risk civilians if you can avoid it."

Well, maybe this Homura Akemi would be all right.

And she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. Was this how she got this good? Hunting wilderness demons exclusively? Yet normally such a person would be famous among magical girls, and Mami hadn't heard of her until now. Besides, the other girl was younger than her, and her soul gem responded easily to purification, like that of a fresh contractee, not an old veteran. And she said she only healed what sounded like a serious illness recently...

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

They paused at the large cargo doors. Homura cautiously peered into the darkness.

Mami raised her hand to the side, and one of her muskets appeared in it. Homura paused briefly at that. She looked around before entering, in a way that made Mami think she might have been covering for a moment of nervousness at having someone with a gun behind her, but that was just a guess; the girl was opaque to her.

The interior of the abandoned warehouse was, of course, unlit. The girls took a moment to let their eyes adjust, augmenting their night vision with a tiny touch of magic.

The main storage area was largely empty. The ceiling was about six meters high. A few huge crates and empty metal containers were scattered in the open space. The far side of the building was occupied by long rows of drive-through pallet racks, mostly bare, reaching halfway up towards the ceiling. A forklift had been abandoned near the cargo doors.

Homura proceeded towards the racks in cautious steps, leading with her left hand. The diamond-cut soul gem pulsated gently with dark purple light.

Mami followed several steps behind, toting her gun, careful to leave enough room for Homura to jump back.

Only once they were halfway between the shelves did the shadow cover them. Homura tensed visibly.

Something gripped the pallet rack to the left of the two girls and tipped it towards them with a hard shove. The dark-haired fighter instantly vanished from sight, and Mami felt herself being pulled backwards just as a heavy box slid off and fell, spilling sharp tools where she'd been standing a split second earlier, and an unusually _real_ white-robed figure crashed through the pallets towards them, and as she fired her musket to no effect, a hand with monstrously large claws arced towards her face-

The arms wrapped around her torso yanked hard, and Mami found herself in the air, held several meters above the ground, half the warehouse's length away from the monster. She noticed that the demon-shadow covered the whole place now, giving it a dark, grim look of a haunted castle, which had nothing to do with its merely being an abandoned building.

The demon howled like a damned soul at its prey's escape.

The familiar sound restored Mami from her shock. She created an unassuming ribbon in her right hand.

Many sharp lines of energy originating from the figure on the ground snapped up towards them. Bright-white, Homura's huge left wing came into view from behind, folding in front of them and absorbing the attack.

Mami's ribbon transformed into a heavy gun. This time she went for a medieval-looking bombard, its squat shape perfect to fit in what little space there was under Homura's wing, concealing the accuracy with which she could aim the magical weapon. She pointed it at where memory told her the demon's head would be...

"TIRO -"

Homura uncovered them -

"- FINALE!"

A blinding flash of yellow light announced the end of the monster.

As Homura lowered her to the ground, Mami reflected on the one proper look she got at the demon. It had been smaller, yet tougher-looking, than the ones she was used to, with more defined facial features and actual developed arms rather than a basic torso. Her first impression came to mind again: it seemed more _real_.

The memory of the clawed hand in front of her face was still fresh in her mind. Mami dropped to her knees and started trembling.

"Are you all right, Tomoe-san?"

"I..." Good question. Was she all right? "I've never been this close to -"

There was a hand on her shoulder. Mami looked up into an unexpectedly kind expression of the other girl.

"You've never fought an old demon before?" Homura asked softly.

"Only a few. I don't let them get old here. I've been keeping my city as clean as I could", she said, finding that reminder of well-earned pride surprisingly restorative. "And I've never seen one like _that_."

"You'll never find one like it in a city. They take years to get that dangerous."

Homura glanced to where the monster had dissolved, thoughtful.

Presently, she spoke again. "I have absolutely no idea what it was doing here."

Mami took in a long breath, then picked herself up.

"I have a... guess, of sorts. But first, thank you very much. You saved my life." She extended her hand along with her best smile. "And please. Call me Mami."

"I'm glad I managed to, Mami-san", the other girl nodded, and reached. "I'm Homura."

They shook hands.

Mami added, "That was great teamwork there, Homura-san. You accommodated my Tiro Finale as if we'd practiced that for weeks."

Homura gave her a strange look, though she was smiling too. "Yes, we both did well. So what was that guess you mentioned?"

"Oh, I've been thinking about that magical explosion. Whatever it was, the wave it sent off might have created a sort of tide. Initially it pushed demons and the miasma away from Mitakihara, but..." Mami's voice trailed off.

"You think it's going to come back eventually, and things will get really bad."

"Well it's a guess, like I said, I really don't know what to expect. But if what we just faced was the first wave... I just want to be prepared for the worst."

Homura nodded. "If it comes to that, I'll help you, of course."

Mami smiled warmly. "Thank you. I've had to take care of this city alone for so long, and it's never been easy. So I'm glad you moved here."

She turned towards the doors, and Homura stepped up to walk next to her.

"If anything like what I'm afraid of actually happens, I really might end up needing all the help I can get. I wish Kyubey was here, too."

"Kyubey?" Homura wondered. "He's not exactly useful in a fight. Anyway, I haven't seen him, either."

"He disappeared after the bomb struck. He said that if there are no demons, he's not needed around here. I hope he shows up again, and soon. We'd scouted two potential magical girls, but Kyubey went away before we could approach them. With four resident magical girls, we could make this city safer than ever."

"Two potentials? Who are they?"

"Two middleschoolers, like us. They're both in eighth grade and I believe they're friends with each other. Likeable, I think."

"What are their names?" Homura asked in a strangely muted voice.

"Sayaka Miki and Madoka Kaname", Mami said, giving Homura a confused look.

Homura staggered, her hand reaching to the forklift for support.

"Homura-san, what is it? You look like you're about to faint-"

The other girl looked up at her without really seeing her.

" _Madoka_..."

Then she was gone.


	4. Interlude

Iku Kobayashi was wishing fervently for there to be a sniper in the skyscraper opposite his office, one that would, for whatever reasons, blow his brains apart with a well-placed bullet. It would mean the end of this goddamn work shift, the end of having to stare at the stupid computer screen with its endless stream of meaningless data, a respite from the exhaustion due to lack of sleep, and, above all, the end of Iku's terrible hangover.

Of course Iku was a nobody in the grand scheme of things, and had no enemies who would send a sniper. Besides, he knew a thing or two about firearms, and, unlike the average TV fan, he was aware that precision rifles weren't magic. The chances that a bullet would accurately hit his head at that distance, through the wind that would surely be blowing at such a high altitude, through the strong window glass, and the see-through front of the cubicle he was sitting in, would have been slim in any case.

He felt trapped. Perhaps he should make a run for it. A fourty-two floors fall would take care of all his troubles. But, as he was well aware, the window glass in the building wasn't made to shatter easily. Iku knew a thing or two about construction as well.

That was part of his problem with life. He knew a thing or two about everything, and that only made him more aware of why things never wanted to go his way.

He sighed, clearing his mind of suicidal fantasies and trying to focus on the computer screen. This was going to be a looong day at work.

Suddenly...

...men in strange orange jumpsuits were sliding down ropes like mountain climbers.

"Dear everyone who overdid it last night! Commence _lescue_!"

A friendly-looking man dropped to the ground right behind him.

_"Mawning Lesque!"_

There was cheerful guitar and drums music.

_"Maaaaaaaawning Les-que!"_

The men detached themselves from the ropes, turning energetically to run up to each office worker.

_"Mawning Lesque!..."_

The smiling man bowed his head, offering Iku a bottle containing an appetising-looking liquid of extraordinary orangeness.

Iku was too stunned to do anything but accept the bottle with a small bow, acting on autopilot. Encouraged by the man's grin, he opened the top and lifted the drink to his mouth.

It tasted like...

...like...

Sip after sip, Iku shook his head at his inability to find words, or at least words that wouldn't be cheesy. Finally he gave up and admitted to himself that there was only one way to describe it.

It tasted like hopes and dreams.

He looked up at the ceiling. The strange orange ninja had all disappeared while he was in the lesque-fugue, and there was no sign that they had ever been there. Iku had seen the building's construction plans and knew there were no ventilation ducts or any other form of tunnels in the relatively thin slab of composite materials above them. The rescue team's appearance was... inexplicable. Only the still 3/4 full bottle in his hand reassured him that... _something_... really just happened.

He took another sip of the orange salvation. Perhaps miracles and magic did exist, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because it wouldn't be Madoka Magica otherwise.
> 
> For the confused as to what the hell just happened: look up Morning Rescue on Puella Magi Wiki. Also, PD-_oLjmCGY on Youtube.


	5. Chapter 5

**From:** 007@goldengirl.jp **  
To:** diduknow@mahoshojoluvappls.jp ****  
Subject: Be careful

_Have you ever heard of a girl called Homura Akemi? She's in M. right now, and she's very formidable. Today she and I took out a _worse_ pest than any I've seen before. It was more trouble than the fourteen newborns we handled earlier, and I probably wouldn't be writing this if Homura hadn't been there. Please be careful when you arrive, because I'm not sure if that's the last we've seen of old ones in the city._

_As to Homura, I like her, but something about her makes me wonder. If you happen to meet her before seeing me, keep your eyes open, just in case._

_Looking forward to seeing you. Travel safely!_

_Yours,_

_Mami_

_PS. Please don't eat literally everything in the fridge before I even get home this time._

Mami pressed "send", then let the keyboard fold and pocketed the cell phone. Her friend would probably make fun of her for being paranoid, but she wasn't taking chances. If something happened to her, Kyouko would be forewarned before her visit next week.

She didn't know what to think of the dark-haired girl's reaction and sudden disappearance. She'd rushed outside the warehouse only to see an angelic figure already far away in the sky, flying towards the inner city. It could mean any one of a dozen things that came to mind, but at least some of these things implied that a dangerous and perhaps mentally unstable magical girl was on the way to where Madoka Kaname lived. And that possibly, just possibly, meant Homura was going to end up hurting someone under Mami's protection.

Fortunately, Homura wouldn't know where Kaname lived, so depending on how long it took her to find out, Mami might still be able to get there first.

The thought of potentially having to fight the other girl was, well, frightening. Mami curled her right hand into a fist, and took a deep breath. This was no time for hesitation.

She ran.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Homura passed the windmills, concealing the effect of her wings upon the evening sky from cityfolk by using her sand-timer. She landed across the river. The moment her feet connected to the ground, she released time and ran.

She was not happy with herself.

She hadn't even considered approaching the Kanames again. It would just have been painful and frustrating, she assumed. Not like in the first timeline of the new world, when she'd been fine meeting Madoka's family. After all, that was after they had achieved something of a triumph over the fate of magical girls. Celebrating that, knowing that her Madoka was watching her as she talked to Junko, and the rapport she immediately developed with the other secret-bearer, the little brother Tatsuya, had made it a more sweet than bitter experience.

But this time it was different. This time fate seemed to be mocking her again, and she'd been in no mood to go out of her way to prod those of her memories which would make her more vulnerable. The decision to go to school again had been unpleasant enough.

And now she learned that a Madoka Kaname had been alive when she returned. Homura cursed herself silently.

According to Mami Tomoe, soon after Homura's return a magical detonation had swept away demons and the miasma. It didn't quite seem like the work of a magical girl, but what else could it have been? There was one way Homura knew by which a magical girl could produce unusually powerful effects, and that was by overloading. Kyouko Sakura had done that in the final timeline of the old world to end Sayaka's witch. Still, killing all demons in a city in one blow should be far beyond what a normal magical girl's overloading could achieve, but what about Madoka?

If something, whatever it might have been, had made Madoka sacrifice herself in such a way, while Homura wasn't even looking for her, let alone there to protect her, she would never forgive herself for her stupidity.

That was why she'd ran from Mami Tomoe without even thinking of saying a perfunctory goodbye, or making any effort to conceal how much the news had shaken her. There was only one thing she really cared about at that point: to confirm that there was still a living Madoka Kaname in the world.

The house came into view. Homura stopped at a distance to calm her breathing.

Sneaking up onto the ledge outside Madoka's window would be easy. She'd done this before.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Madoka sat up from her brooding. The cat on the barely open window was being noisy, hissing and patting its paw on the glass.

"What is it, Amy?"

Madoka walked to the window and pushed it a little further outward.

There was nothing outside, of course.

"Did you want to leave?" she asked the cat, and reached to open the window all the way. The evening had a mild warmth to it that she liked.

"Here you go, kitty."

The cat gave her an inscrutable look, then jumped. It walked off, sniffing the air. Madoka stared out into the night, thoughtful.

It had been four days now.

She sighed. "Where _are_ you, Homura-chan?"

Someone under the ledge outside breathed in audibly. Before the alarmed Madoka could react, Homura was standing in front of her.

"Madoka..."

The fright vanished in an instant, replaced by relief.

"Ho... Homura-chan!"

They stared at each other, words failing.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Homura couldn't take her eyes off Madoka. The girl's alarmed expression softened into a joyful smile. A strange pain pierced Homura's heart. Madoka was _really there_ , and she looked _happy to see her_.

Homura swallowed. "Madoka, do you really remember me?"

"Yes, Homura-chan. Please. Come in", Madoka implored, stepping aside.

Homura breathed in deeply, trying to stop her hands from trembling. Climbing through the window was a matter of two agile steps. Then she was facing Madoka.

There was no telling which one moved first. Suddenly, they were embracing, arms wrapped around each other, heads across shoulders.

"I missed you, so much." Madoka whispered.

Homura couldn't even speak. Her eyes were smarting.

They stayed that way a while, each finding the other a pillar of reassurance to hold on to.

Finally, Homura felt Madoka pull back. Cautiously, as if anything abrupt might cause her to disappear again, the girl reached for Homura's hands. Madoka conducted her precious friend to sit on the bed, and dropped down next to her, not letting go.

An uncertain smile briefly appeared on Homura's flushed face.

Madoka found herself grinning like an idiot. She had to stop herself from bouncing up and down.

"You finally found me! I'm so, so glad to see you, Homura-chan! You have no idea how I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Please, please say my name again. I love it when you do that."

Homura lowered her eyes, though she was smiling again.

"Madoka, I missed you too."

Madoka beamed. She leaned and tilted her head, trying to catch the other girl's downcast gaze.

"Homura-chan, you stalker! What were you doing under my window? Why didn't you just show yourself?"

"Madoka, I only just learned that you were alive! I... I had no idea if you'd even recognize me." She shook her head. "This is impossible. Are you really here?" she squeezed the other girl's hands.

"I'm real", Madoka said, squeezing her back reassuringly. Her voice grew serious. "Believe it, Homura-chan. I came back to you. I knew how much you wanted to see me again. So... I'm here. I'm really here."

Homura still wasn't sure if she was fully believing it. Fate had taunted her so many times before.

"But... how? Please, can you tell me what's going on?"

Madoka sighed, bracing herself. She took in a long breath.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

All the pasts and all the futures are equally laid bare before the golden sight of Madokami, and She is present in every one of them.

Foremost among all the mortals whom She silently accompanies is Homura Akemi, as she lives out her life in the first timeline in the new universe. Finally free from the time loop, the girl could be anything she wants. Yet, like in all the previous iterations, Homura chooses a life dedicated to Madoka, this time by fighting to protect the world in her name.

Homura's life once again becomes a Madoka-centered strand of fate. With every use of her magic, she unknowingly adds to the karmic connection between them, the effect not dissimilar to how she had given Madoka all her power in the first place. Though it seems tiny in comparison, the hands of the Goddess collect this new gift with loving gratitude, and, for the first time, She has additional ability-to-act, over and above the energies needed for Her endless task.

She encourages the mortal Homura, upholds her through her moments of weakness. It is a subtle business. She cannot even in a whisper let Homura know what to expect - it is because the girl fights selflessly, defending the world in Madoka's name without hope of reward in life, that there is karmic gain. Finally, there is enough power.

She owes Her friend a miracle.

The Archer Lady is standing now, tall and regal, a beautifully elaborate bow in Her left hand. Her head is lowered in contemplation of the coruscating ball of precious energy swirling in Her right palm. It has been granted to Her by Homura, so it is sacred to Her. It is Homura's work. Homura's pain. Homura's sacrifices. The Lady's fingers carefully weave the rare resource into intentions; She will not waste a single drop.

An arrow forms, long, precisely crafted, etched with runes glowing with magic.

One more wish. That's all She has. One more arrow.

_May it fly true!_

The multidimensional fabric of history spreads out before Her. There is an obvious gap, empty space where the mortal Madoka had been before her own existence cancelled itself out. It is like a hole torn in the fabric, with countless loose threads pointing futilely to that nonexistent life: Tatsuya Kaname's fleeting memories, Junko's unnamed nostalgia, an unused chair in a classroom. Of all of them, only Homura's stubborn devotion is a strong enough thread to reach past the empty space and connect to Her.

The archer surveys the entire length of the emptiness. She chooses Her target. Possible futures flash before the golden eyes.

The spot to which Homura always returned after every use of her time-travel is best. The flow of Time had been broken there so many times by the resets that it will offer the least resistance to the magical projectile, allowing the most magic to break through to the world of mortals. Satisfied, the archer aims and draws, putting every bit of Her divine strength behind the shot to magnify its effect upon impact.

The golden light in Her eyes flares.

She fires.

The arrow strikes the Earth like a nuclear torpedo. Bright rose light fills the empty Madoka-space as if that space were the magical framework of a spell, calling her into physical existence. Innumerable golden lightning bolts chain out in both causal directions, past and future, propagating subtle changes throughout history that allow a Madoka Kaname to have been born.

All that remains is to redirect Homura back in time, from her final moment of despair to when the arrow strikes. The Lady can spare no time to warn Homura what's going to happen, no more than She could keep encouraging her to keep fighting. Every moment of delay means a longer distance to bridge between the two critical moments in time, which costs energy. And wasting any of Homura's precious gift is completely out of the question.

Madoka Kaname will meet her soon and make it up to her. She will repay Homura for everything, if it takes her the entirety of her new mortal life to do so.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Madoka Kaname, the mortal girl, retold events as best as she could remember them. Her recollection was only so good, of course, with her Goddess-sight gone. But she knew the essentials, how her final wish gave her physical form, though only with the original magical potential from the first timeline.

She told her best friend all she knew.

"So you see, it was all your work, Homura-chan. You've earned it. And I'm so happy to be here for you. I just wish I could have come in gift wrapping", she giggled shortly.

Homura's eyes were wide open as she stared at Madoka over their joined hands. "Madoka -"

A sob escaped her. Then another.

Madoka pulled her close to her chest. "I told you it was too early to give up hope."

Homura's arms desperately wrapped around the other girl's back. She could not stop the tears. "Madoka, I'm so happy..."

There was no way for Homura to express how true that was. It had been worth it. Everything. It had all been worth it.

Madoka released a glad sigh as she gently stroked her friend's long hair. There was moisture in her eyes as well.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Kanames' house still seemed to be standing, at least. Mami considered her options. Though it wasn't late night yet, the house was quiet and mostly dark. Homura was nowhere to be seen yet.

A window to a lit room was open on the top floor on the right. There was a ledge outside. Mami was a gunner, not an infiltrator; she did not feel confident about climbing up there unnoticed. However, as long as it was possible that Kaname was in that room, she had to make sure the girl was unhurt before deciding what to do next.

She backed up some distance into the darkness where she would not be seen, then summoned her ribbons. It took careful control of her magic before they weren't glowing at all. With a gesture from Mami, some of the ribbons formed supports under her arms, while others wrapped around her waist. Then they spread out to the sides and planted themselves in the ground like insect-like legs, lifting her up until she could peer unseen into the lit room.

A young girl was sitting on the bed. She was cradling a dark-haired girl's head in her lap. The cold, aloof fighter that Mami had known was gone completely; this Homura was soft and happy and crying as she whispered things Mami couldn't hear from her makeshift observation tower. Kaname too looked happy, entirely at ease with this dangerous person in her room.

Nothing to do here after all...

Mami swallowed a lump in her throat and lowered herself back to the street. The useless ribbons vanished. She still had no idea what was going on, but she knew one thing: that beautiful scene wasn't meant for her to spy upon.

She headed back to where she could resume her usual evening patrol. A voice at the back of her mind wondered about that slight hollow feeling in her chest.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

The cat on the ledge outside was hissing at something.

"Amy..."

Homura's heart skipped a beat when she finally made the connection. She sat up. Madoka's very first wish in the original timeline had been to save the cat's life.

"Madoka, did you-"

"No, no! Come on, Homura-chan, what are you thinking?" Madoka chided gently. "I didn't need to. It was no trouble to rescue her myself when I knew what was going to happen."

"Right. Mami Tomoe said you weren't contracted, but with Amy here... sorry, for a moment I was confused."

"It's all well, Homura-chan. So, you've met her already? How did that go?"

Homura described the fight with demons, and the way they parted. She kept it simple.

"Aw, you probably got poor Mami-san worried", Madoka chuckled. "We'll smooth it out soon, I suppose. But I'm glad you didn't let her get hurt!"

She touched her head with a frown.

"By the way, do you know why she hasn't contacted Sayaka or me?"

"You mean you don't know?"

Madoka shook her head. Homura repeated what Mami had told her about the interruption in demonic activity, and how the lack of fresh grief cubes made the alien leave Mitakihara.

"Oh, I see. Kyubey will always be Kyubey", Madoka said.

"I assumed that outburst of magic was you coming back", Homura said. "As a goddess, your return was kind of a big deal, you know."

"It was... probably me. Though I can't recall that moment any more."

Madoka stood up and walked to the window. She stared out into the night. The city's light pollution obscured stars completely.

"You know, Homura-chan, I'm pretty much a normal girl again. I remember all those past lives of ours, but I can't see everything I used to be able to see."

"Like the future?"

"That, and other things. I don't know what's going to happen, or what is going on everywhere in the world right now..."

Homura walked up from behind to put her arm around Madoka's waist.

Madoka giggled. "I suppose there isn't enough room in my idiot head for everything that a goddess knows. But yes, if I try to see these things, I just get a terrible headache. It's pointless."

"But how can you be here, anyway? What about your work? All those magical girls... maybe even now someone is dying."

"Don't worry! I'm still doing it, and I'll be doing it forever. Do you remember? You were up there with me. There's no time there. Or at least not the same as here. When I made my wish and fired all those arrows, it was already... how do I say this... From then on it was as if they had always existed, in every world and every time."

Homura relaxed. She did remember, but seeing a flesh-and-blood Madoka had thrown her ideas into disarray. She leaned in to whisper into Madoka's ear.

"I think I understand. But can I ask one more question?"

"As many as you like, Homura-chan."

Homura screeched in her best, which was not to say good, impression of teacher Saotome. "Why didn't you go to school today, young lady?"

Madoka gasped, looking towards her. "Y-you were in class today? Oh, I'm so sorry to have missed you."

Homura smiled. "I had to console myself with Mami-san's company. But seriously, is everything all right? Why didn't you go?"

Madoka lowered her eyes. "You'll call me a dummy if I tell you."

"I promise I won't. Besides, I'll tickle you until you tell me, anyway." She tightened her hold gently, preventing Madoka's potential escape.

"Please don't, we'll wake up my little brother." Madoka smiled.

"Oh, right." Homura looked at the door. "And your mom and dad?"

"They're out tonight. Anyway, where do I start... To begin with, my life until lately has been the same as in all those previous timelines. I didn't know anything about our pasts."

Homura blinked her eyes. "I see. When did you realize?"

"Well, it didn't come to me all at once, but it started on the same day you came back."

"So four days ago."

"Yes. But at first I didn't understand what it meant too well..."

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

"Madoka, have you been crying? Is something wrong?"

"I'm all right, mom. I just had a very sad dream."

"Well, we can't have you showing yourself to your friends with your eyes red like that. Come here..."

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

"Sayaka-chan, Hitomi-chan... I have to ask you a question and it might sound strange, but... have we ever known someone named Homura?"

"Nope."

"I can't recall either, Madoka-san. Why do you ask?"

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

"The next day I could remember things much more clearly, so I didn't mention it again. Anyway, by the time I properly remembered everything it was yesterday, and I still hadn't seen you. I tried calling some of your past phone numbers -"

"Right, they keep assigning me a different one every time. I don't know what's up with that."

They'd gone back to sit on the bed, and Homura wasn't sure how, but she found herself with her head in the other girl's lap again. It certainly was a pleasant way to be told a story.

"I tried to see you at your place, but I didn't get lucky with catching you home, either. I... I got worried. I knew you must have been confused, and I didn't know what you were thinking or what you'd do... So I tried to see where you were and how I could contact you. I really tried hard."

"And?"

"Well, I couldn't do it, but it did make me nauseous and dizzy at breakfast. Mom called school to excuse me, and made me go to the doctor." Madoka put her hands together as if in prayer. "I'm so sorry, Homura-chan. I had no idea you'd come to school early."

Homura burst into laughter, barely managing to keep it soft.

"W.. what's so funny?" Madoka shifted her position uncomfortably, blushing a little.

Homura didn't think she'd find the words. Instead, she looked up at Madoka's face, and reached to make her look down into her eyes. _"Let me show you."_

Madoka blinked. _"Show me-?"_

The dark eyes seemed to grow larger and larger, absorbing her attention. Then she was seeing the image Homura intended her to see.

The long-haired Goddess Madoka, in a grandly flowing dress, with translucent reality around her revealing a glorious starry background...

... dragged helplessly by hand to her doctor's appointment by Junko Kaname, serious businesswoman and mother.

Madoka laughed, shaking her head, which triggered more chuckling from the other girl. Laughing together felt good.

"I suppose it's true. I'm back to being a middle-school girl", she mused. "But it was dad who took me there, Mom had to go to work."

"So what did the poor doctor say?"

"That I'm perfectly healthy, it's nothing, must have been something I ate". She smiled. "I'm sure it'll be all forgotten by tomorrow."

"I'm glad."

A small part of Madoka had to wonder at the image of her own face in Homura's mind. _Is that how she sees me?_ It was so ironic, when Homura was the stunning one.

Homura sensed the thoughtful note in her mood. "I hope I didn't bother you by doing that? It's just something I learned from Kyubey. We spent a lot of time together, you know."

"Yes."

"I was bored sometimes, and he wasn't such a bad conversationalist. Especially after I've had nobody else to talk to for weeks."

"I know, Homura-chan. Don't worry, it doesn't bother me. Just be sure to use it on him when we meet him."

Madoka imagined a dramatic staring contest between Homura and Kyubey, epic music and hair flicking and all, and giggled again. It was a shame she couldn't share mental images like Homura. At least, not yet.

"Is that safe to do? I don't know if we want to raise _too_ many questions."

"It'll be all right, Homura-chan", she whispered, caressing her cheek gently. "I wasn't serious, anyway."

Homura closed her eyes, relaxing pleasantly under the touch.

She recalled all the times she'd either said, or thought, "this isn't my world", before turning back time. Even the new world, without witches, hadn't been it; in fact, she'd been more a stranger in it than in any of the previous ones.

This, now, was her timeline. She was finally home.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

 **From:** diduknow@mahoshojoluvappls.jp  
 **To:** 007@goldengirl.jp **  
Subject:** re: you Be careful

_never heard of this akemi person. youre right about the pests, you should be ready for more. maybe alot more. will say more when I see you. change of plans, coming day after tmrrw_

_re fridge: no promises_

_Be safe._

_K._


	6. Chapter 6

It was a beautiful, sunny morning, the kind that reminded Sayaka that being alive was amazing. Even if it was a school day.

"Good morning!" Madoka ran up to the two girls waiting for her.

"Good morning, Madoka-san", Hitomi said.

Sayaka poked Madoka in the shoulder. "Where were you yesterday?"

"Sorry. I wasn't feeling well in the morning, and mom decided to be a little overprotective, so dad took me to the doctor."

"Oh? That doesn't sound like your mom, Madoka. Are you ill?" Sayaka tilted her head. Hitomi also turned back to look at Madoka with concern.

"Don't worry, it was nothing. I feel great today." Madoka grinned at her friends. She took her usual place between them, starting their daily walk to school.

"Well, you missed quite a show. The girl of your dreams showed up! Destiny has brought you together at last", Sayaka intoned solemnly. "Or it would have, had you not found a way to skip your classes."

"You're making fun of me", Madoka complained, though she was smiling.

"No, really!" Sayaka laughed. "The beautiful and mysterious Homura Akemi transferred to our school. That's the same name that you asked us about, right? Homura? Was she just as impressive in your dream, I wonder!"

"Surely this is a coincidence, Sayaka-san." Hitomi said. "I think dreams can sometimes mean something, but this..."

"Sure. But it's a funny coincidence."

"Sayaka-chan, what do you mean by a show?" Madoka asked.

"Oh, you should have seen her. What a show-off! Gym, math, is there anything the girl isn't good at? And the way she looks at everyone, so haughty!"

"Sayaka-san, is it a crime for a girl to be beautiful?" Hitomi blinked innocently, then added softly "Or better at math than you?"

"He-ey now! I'm not saying anything against you, you young hottie. After all, you had the excellent taste to become friends with me. And with Madoka _-chan,_ of course", she added, seeing Madoka point to herself with a serious face.

The girls laughed.

Sayaka continued, "But the way this Akemi girl acts, I don't think she's going to make friends in a hurry."

"Well, that's not good", Madoka said decisively. "We're not leaving the girl from my dreams to flounder."

"Eh? You want us to become friends with her? I know you like to be nice to people, but maybe wait till you meet her before having ideas. There was already a whole crowd fawning over her yesterday, and that sure went nowhere."

"I think there is something to Madoka-san's idea", Hitomi opined. "Maybe it's just that Akemi-san is new in town. She could be shy, and act distant because she doesn't know how to make friends."

"Maybe." Sayaka made a skeptical face. "Oh, fine. As long as she agrees to tutor me in math. But I don't know how to make friends with someone like that, either."

"We could try anyway." Madoka seemed strangely carefree. "What's the worst that could happen?"

It didn't take long before they stood in front of the school building.

"I have a plan", announced Hitomi.

"Oh, a plan! Let's hear it, Napoleon-sama", said Sayaka. "Does it involve walking up to her and telling her about Madoka's dream? Not that she told us any details."

"Sayaka-chan! Now I'm glad that I didn't."

"Oh, and why is that, Madoka? Were the details unfit for our innocent ears?"

Hitomi cleared her throat, waiting for silence.

"Akemi-san is recovering from a heart condition, and, if I heard correctly, she sometimes needs to go to the nurse's office to take her medicine. We could start a conversation by introducing the class health officer to her." She motioned towards Madoka.

"A heart disease, are you sure? I missed that. So what was she doing breaking the prefectural record in the high jump, and all that?"

"Now that you ask about it, it is rather strange..." Hitomi conceded.

"That's it. Whatever medicine they've been giving her, I want some!" Sayaka declared, and stormed into the glass building. Madoka and Hitomi giggled, and followed.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Mami went through her morning routine like a robot. At the end of it she wasn't even sure what she'd eaten for breakfast. She did snap back to reality in time to make certain she was presentable before it was time to go to school, but for the most part her mind was churning with thoughts about yesterday.

Getting to know Homura Akemi might as well be considered a failure, if the beautiful girl was more mysterious to her now than before their meeting. The newcomer wasn't exactly unfriendly, and they did get on a first-name basis - it felt right at the time, after Homura saved her life. But there were those little things that didn't add up about her. The final event of the evening, Homura's rushing off to meet Kaname-san after she heard her name from Mami, was probably the strangest. It made no sense. Mami hadn't met the potential magical girl yet, but, according to what Kyubey said before he left, Madoka had lived in Mitakihara all her life. If Homura had known her and been close to her before, why was she so surprised that she still lived here?

One thing was certain: life was changing. There was now a new magical girl in town, and soon there might be four of them in all, once the two potentials were contracted - five if she counted Kyouko. At least it might get more lively.

And then there was the threat of outsider demons; Kyouko's e-mail warned that yesterday's encounter wasn't the last one.

How it would all play out, Mami didn't know. Just one day earlier she'd considered herself the undisputed protector of Mitakihara, expecting to end up with three junior magical girls under her. As it turned out, Homura was at least as strong as her, and already knew Madoka Kaname, which meant Sayaka Miki was probably also a friend of hers. And now Mami found herself wondering if she'd end up as the fifth wheel in her own city, even as they all faced new enemies with which she had little experience.

If only Kyubey had stayed, so she could have met the two potentials a few days earlier, and made friends with them in her own right before Homura showed up...

Well, it was too late for that. But in some ways it didn't matter. The fundamentals of her life were the same today as yesterday: she was a magical girl, and had her duties. Some would say a life of fighting wasn't much of a life, but that was what she'd bought from fate on that painful day two years earlier, as she lay dying in the crashed car. All else was a luxury. And when she looked at it like that, an important problem existed that she actually could do something about right now.

Mami decided not to go to school that day.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

The school hallways were sparsely filled with small groups of students, chatting away the time until the start of classes. Most were yet to arrive: waking up earlier than really necessary to get to homeroom on time was not a very popular sport. The girls noticed that Homura Akemi was there, though, staring out the glass outer wall. Even though she stood alone, she seemed to be in a good mood. This was a change; previously it had seemed that the girl found it beneath her to even have a mood.

The trio wasted no time in cornering her. "Good day, Akemi-san", Hitomi said.

Homura turned around to face them. "Good day", she said softly. The neutral expression returned, though her eyes had a benign look to them that hadn't been there the previous day.

Madoka had to mentally talk herself out of giving her a hug right there and then.

Hitomi gave a short bow, followed by Madoka and, a moment later, Sayaka. The dark-haired beauty bowed back, her posture a perfect match for Hitomi's ladylike manner.

Hitomi said, "I don't know if you remember us? We're your classmates. I'm Hitomi Shizuki, the class representative."

"And I'm Sayaka Miki, the class disgrace", the other girl said with a grin.

Hitomi coughed at the interruption, and finished, "And this is Madoka Kaname-san."

"Nice to meet you all", Homura said. _And thank the stars this is the last time ever that you people introduce yourselves to me_.

"You don't look too well, Akemi-san." Madoka tilted her head critically. "Did you sleep last night?"

Sayaka couldn't help but stare at her sideways. That sort of bluntness was out of character for Madoka - as was inventing something over which to fake concern for the purpose of breaking ice. And there was a smile on her face that Sayaka couldn't quite place.

"I did", Homura replied.

Madoka put her hands on her hips and met the transfer student's eyes, still smiling.

"...for about an hour", the dark-haired girl admitted.

Oh. Now that Sayaka paid attention, she saw that Akemi did look a bit pale.

"I thought so." Madoka nodded.

"Madoka-san is the class health officer." Hitomi explained. "That's why we're here."

"I'll be in your care, then." Homura inclined her head towards her secretly-best-friend.

Madoka beamed at her.

"She was playing truant yesterday, so you couldn't meet her", Sayaka added helpfully.

Homura smiled back at Madoka. "I'm sure it was nothing like that."

The bell rang.

"Uh, English." Sayaka groaned, distracted. Technically it was homeroom first, but English was scheduled in the same classroom afterwards. At least there was some hope that Saotome-sensei's usual ramblings would mercifully cut into the foreign language lesson and shorten their suffering.

"Oh my, it seems we need to go", Hitomi said. "Akemi-san, will you sit with us during lunch break?"

"Certainly. Thank you for inviting me."

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

To Homura, English was painless and uneventful. She tuned out the teacher's explanations about the difference between passive and active voice; the distinction might have been more difficult to understand in her original life, but by now she didn't even remember if that had been the case.

Instead, her mind wandered back to the previous day - that magical, wonderful day, when she discovered that Madoka was alive, and then she reunited with her. It took effort not to react when she noticed the girl from the corner of her eye, walking into school with her two friends. Fortunately, Homura'd had a lot of practice at not-reacting. Still, even now she had to stop herself from looking back over her left shoulder at the girl in question, who was occupying that once empty chair near the back.

Happiness. This was what normal people called happiness.

_"So, Homura-chaan..."_

Homura stiffened at hearing Madoka's telepathy, a sing-song voice. It was like a cold shower to her. She replied in a low tone, _"How are you able to talk to me?"_ First Amy, now this. But Madoka wouldn't be lying to her about being uncontracted.

 _"I've been wondering about that myself"_ , Madoka said. _"I think you're enabling me, like Kyubey."_

She's been wondering?

_"What do you mean, you've been wondering? How long have you known?"_

_"Well, I first got this feeling when you were leaving, yesterday."_ If two in the morning still counted as yesterday. _"I didn't think much of it, though, probably because you immediately went out of range. But as soon as I saw you today I was sure."_

Homura accepted this. The peculiar feeling one got when it was possible to send thoughts was subtle, and an inexperienced, uncontracted potential wouldn't normally be aware of it without being told by Kyubey. But Madoka had as many timelines in her memories as Homura, and she'd likely used telepathy in most of them.

How unique. Madoka was now both a normal girl and a magical veteran at the same time. Not to mention a Goddess on retirement.

 _"Let me look"_ , Homura sent back. She withdrew into herself a little, focusing on the flow of her magical energies.

She could feel her soul gem's connection to her nervous and endocrine systems, as well as the infinitesimal streams reinforcing her magical girl body, responsible for how it was more resilient than normal human flesh and bones; all this was universal, instinctive magic that came with the contract.

She sensed the constantly maintained protective shell around her true body - currently in the form of a ring on her finger - securing it against accidental damage. She'd torn down and rebuilt this spell three times by now, once before Madoka's ascension and twice after, as experience gave her ideas on how to improve it. Her native protection had been woefully inadequate, at least in her opinion, although, like with most magical girls, certainly good enough against a glancing hit from a basic demon-laser.

She could detect the tiny spell on the ribbons in her hair, which kept them strong and the colors unfaded over the years she'd spent in the previous timeline.

And, yes, now that she knew to look for it, she could sense a telepathic connection between her and Madoka, originating with Homura herself.

All this had taken about five heartbeats.

_"You're right. I see it now."_

More instinctive magic, then; Homura's mind reaching out to the one person who mattered to her more than anything. Noticing it was like becoming aware of her own breathing: she could stop it if she wanted to, but the moment her attention wandered off, the telepathic link would probably resume. Not that Homura minded - Madoka having a pretty much permanent connection to her, at least as long as they were within range, was hardly something she'd object to.

Still, she diligently made sure that she wasn't using magic unconsciously in any other ways. That would be at least potentially unsafe, and the lack of control wasn't very fitting for someone as experienced as Homura. The inspection took only a few seconds, and turned up nothing. Good, she thought. Her control wasn't falling apart completely.

 _"So, you were saying?"_ she asked.

_"I just want to know when we can get away for a bit so I can hug you to death. I thought I'd die when we stood there and I had to pretend I just met you!"_

Homura closed her eyes, working to master the flood of joy that would have made her grin like she was insane. Not a good idea while the teacher was almost right in front of her. _"I felt the same way."_

They fell silent for a moment.

_"Well, getting away shouldn't be a problem later on. By the way, have you seen Mami today?"_

_"Already ahead of you, Madoka. I checked with her homeroom teacher; apparently she called in sick."_

_"Magical girls don't easily get sick."_

_"I know. Let's look for her after school",_ Homura said, though she would have preferred to spend more time alone with Madoka. But some of the things they had to do wouldn't wait.

Before Madoka could respond, Kazuko demanded attention from the class. "I almost forgot: I have the results of the test from two days ago."

 _"Uh-oh."_ Madoka's mental voice had a humorous tone to it.

The announcement was met with groans and apprehensive whispers. As in the previous timelines, not many students found the foreign language easy to learn, or even interesting. Homura glanced back. Hitomi was unruffled as usual, but Sayaka didn't look too confident. Madoka was failing badly at a poker face.

Once the tests were distributed, the class was over. "Those of you who failed will be taking a make-up test on Monday, so please study hard!" the teacher said cheerfully.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Three more hours dragged on before the students were allowed to spill out of their classrooms and head for the cafeteria.

"So how did you do at the math test today?" Hitomi asked as they walked.

"No worse than usual, I'm sure!" Sayaka claimed boldly.

"Sayaka-chan, no worse than usual isn't that good for us..." Madoka said.

Sayaka blinked, then: "We'll just have to find out tomorrow! Let's not worry until then."

"And I'm sure Akemi-san did well", Hitomi probed.

"Yes", Homura said. "What about that last English test, was it hard?"

"Oh, don't remind me." Sayaka shook her head. "Thirty-one points, so it's Monday for me. What did you get, Hitomi?"

"Ninety-four", Hitomi said modestly, then addressed Homura. "But you don't have to worry about it, Akemi-san. Saotome-sensei won't make you take it with the make-up students, since the original test was before you transferred in."

For all her repeated experience, Homura didn't find Kazuko's behaviour nearly as predictable as the authority with which Hitomi spoke suggested. But it didn't matter.

"Well, time to find out what score Madoka got!" Sayaka announced, holding up a sheet of paper.

"Sayaka-chan! How did you get your hands on my test?" Madoka tried to take it away, but Sayaka ran to hide behind Hitomi.

"I planned ahead! Last time getting you to show your test took too long. Now, let's see... okay, someone pinch me. Ninety-seven? That's a nearly perfect score!"

Hitomi turned around to stare at the test. All four of them gathered around the offending piece of paper.

"It's not what you think!" Madoka gesticulated theatrically.

"And what do I think?" Sayaka looked up at her.

"I'm not betraying you as a make-up test buddy!"

Hitomi and Homura exchanged amused looks.

Sayaka protested. "Oh, come on, we don't fail _that_ often. But I've never seen you do better than miss Great-At-Everything here", she pointed at Hitomi. "Let me guess: you were missing yesterday because your brain went into a coma for a full day, after all that last-minute effort?"

"Even I can get lucky on multiple-choice", Madoka said. It was somehow unconvincing, even though, until she said it, that was exactly what Sayaka had assumed.

"All right, who are you, and what did you do with Madoka."

Madoka just sighed, which broke into a short giggle at the silliness of the situation, as she took her place in the cafeteria line. Only the dark-haired girl now standing behind her had any idea just how familiar she was with the learning material in the few weeks ahead.

Once they all got their food and found a table, Hitomi decided to follow-up on the morning's conversation.

"Akemi-san, you mentioned sleeping trouble, and yesterday you had to go to the nurse's office. If you don't mind, does your heart problem often keep you from sleeping?" she asked in polite tone, before picking on her plate.

"Not really. I've made a very good recovery since my last operation, actually. I just had a lot to think about, and ended up stressing about it and staying awake", Homura said.

"I see."

"I guess everything's new to you", Sayaka said between bites, "after all that time in the hospital. Uh, we're not being too intrusive there, I hope..."

"It's all right. And no, only one thing is really new to me."

Softly, Madoka asked "What is that?"

Homura met her eyes. "I _like it here_. Being in Mitakihara, attending this school. I'm looking forward to the foreseeable future. I haven't felt that way in... a while."

Madoka grinned. "And that kept you awake?"

"Part of me keeps expecting something to happen that will change that. It feels too good to be true."

Sayaka and Hitomi exchanged brief looks. The conversation was starting to feel a bit eery. Akemi was giving honest replies to personal questions, and Madoka seemed to be expecting it.

"There is no such thing", Madoka opined confidently. "So I expect you to get a full night's sleep tonight, Akemi-san."

Homura chuckled, and lowered her eyes in mock submission. "Yes, Ma'am", she said in English, then took a sip from her drink.

Sayaka's gaze shifted from Homura to Madoka and back. She grinned mischievously.

"So, Akemi-san", she said. "Do you think you'd have time on Saturday to come to my place and help me with mathematics? To be honest, I have a feeling I didn't do well on that test today."

"You'd like me to tutor you?"

"If you would be so kind? I'll treat you to some great home cooking. I bet all you eat is food from convenience stores and the like."

"I guess that's mostly true", Homura admitted.

Madoka intervened. "As I'm now responsible for Akemi-san's wellbeing, I cannot allow that. At least, I should be invited too, so I can first inspect whatever you try to poison her with."

Sayaka responded "Oh, I won't do the cooking myself. My mom's a great cook, though. Surely you won't object to that, Madoka?"

Homura chuckled, catching on to what Sayaka was doing. "So you three don't have a study group going already?" she diverted.

"Nothing permanent or formal", Hitomi said. Studying really hadn't been the kind of activity that glued their group together. "Though I guess we've helped each other through a crisis a few times. Have you ever been part of one?"

Sayaka figured she didn't need to point out that it usually meant Hitomi helping out her and Madoka, rather than receiving help herself. As kind as Hitomi's choice of words was, Akemi wasn't stupid.

"Not really", Homura said. "It's an idea, though. But, speaking of responsibility for my wellbeing, could Kaname-san take me to the nurse's office now?"

"Of course, Ho... Akemi-san!" Madoka said.

Sayaka grinned. She hadn't gotten an answer, but she didn't really want one.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

"So, what were you really doing all night, Homura-chan?"

 _"I was making bombs"_ , Homura answered telepathically.

Step after familiar step, Homura found herself following Madoka along the well known way: turn left, then right, then into the tunnel connecting the two parts of the building.

 _"Going back to your roots, Homura-chan? I hope you didn't forget to steal a golf club, then."_ Madoka smiled. _"But you know, I meant it. It's going to be all right. So maybe you should relax a bit."_

Homura said nothing. She was going to relax once she understood all the anomalies about this timeline. Until then she'd be ready for anything. _I'm not going to let what I have be taken from me by surprise._

The tunnel was pretty much always empty, and this time was no different.

Madoka stopped and turned around to face Homura.

"Homura-chan", she said softly. And smiled. It felt so much better than 'Akemi-san'.

"Madoka", Homura responded, almost whispering to herself.

They embraced, strongly, as if the previous evening had made no dent in how much they'd missed each other.

Time passed too quickly. Madoka muttered something about not wanting to go back yet.

 _Me neither_ , Homura thought, nodding. Then she pulled back from the hug. "Madoka..."

"Yes, Homura-chan?"

"I've had something of yours all these years. It meant the world to me when you were away, but now that I don't need them to remember you... I think they'd look better back on you."

Then she reached to the left side of her head and carefully untied the ribbon that was tied in a bow there. Madoka gasped softly.

Homura continued "I know this won't help us pretend that we'd only just met, but... it's just something I want to do. And your mom was going to get them for you on Monday, anyway. She always did, in every timeline. So maybe just keep them hidden until then?"

Madoka moved forward to stop the dark-haired girl's hands before she could also take off the one worn as a headband.

"No, Homura-chan. It was a gift. Please keep at least that one."

Homura smiled uncertainly, then nodded. "All right."

Madoka smiled back, then carefully took the other ribbon from Homura's hand.

"So, how are you going to...?" Homura asked.

Madoka, still smiling, removed the elastics holding up her twin tails, letting the hair fall down.

"I need a mirror", she said, and turned back to find the nearest washroom.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Hitomi wiped her mouth elegantly, having decided not to finish her meal, then asked "So, what do you think?"

"Mm?" Sayaka responded with her mouth full.

"Madoka-san is acting a little strange, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh, I'd just say Madoka is really fond of our new friend."

"I don't know, Sayaka-san. She wasn't quite herself on Tuesday, either, and that was before she met Akemi-san. And on Monday she seemed so sad about something... Maybe we shouldn't be reading too much into things when it comes to Akemi-san", Hitomi said. "I feel we're missing something else."

At that point, the two girls reappeared in the cafeteria. Sayaka's mouth fell open. Madoka's hair was missing the usual twintails, and, as she turned to navigate between tables, Sayaka saw that it was now gathered behind in a simple, low ponytail, tied together with a red ribbon. It was quite a change, and it was obvious where the ribbon had come from.

"You were saying?" she whispered to Hitomi.

"Oh, my..."

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

In the western part of the city a girl was following a trail only she could see. She walked carefully, with a serious expression on her face. The sun had just set.

She'd followed the subtle miasmatic flow for a few kilometers now, and wasn't surprised at the destination: a somewhat neglected park. There was just a single demon, probably only a few hours old, and it attacked her as soon as she stepped through the entrance gate. It kept its distance as it fired on her, not allowing Mami to close, so she just shot it apart.

Then she realized it might have been a mistake, given her purpose today. The light of her soul gem no longer pulsated. With how still the psychic currents were, she wouldn't be surprised if that proved to be the whole threat that evening. There were days like that.

But no. There was something about the park itself... there was the same feeling as yesterday. No actual trail, but a seemingly residual, inactive trace of evil. If she hadn't had the previous day's experience still freshly in mind, and if the background miasma wasn't so weak, she would've almost certainly missed it.

Mami turned quickly, suddenly certain that something was about to sneak up on her - but no, there was nothing. The trees and bushes were dead quiet, as there was no wind.

The park wasn't empty. She was more certain of that with every moment. She couldn't go home now - this thing would follow her, and she wouldn't dare sleep until she'd dealt with it. Besides, even if she lost it, it would hurt someone else. She held out the egg-like soul gem in her hand, making it radiate magic more forcefully.

"Show yourself, demon", she whispered.

Then she started walking forward, letting her instincts guide her. The unseen radiance of her soul gem, more of a warmth than a light, penetrated the darkness.

Suddenly, her invisible opponent's restraint gave out. The park transformed, now looking like a haunted forest, the branches of trees almost seeming to reach out for something to grab and tear apart. Everything dimmed, and a wind seemed to pick up. A figure moved into sight, deathly white, emanating hatred - and power. About as much power as the one that could have killed her last time. Mami grew pale.

This time, she wouldn't have Homura to back her up.


	7. Chapter 7

Mami stopped in a balanced stance, brow furrowed in concentration. The soul gem was already back in her hairpiece.

Lacking the advantage of surprise, the monster rushed her all the same, rapidly closing the distance. One moment it was entering view; the next, it was taking a powerful swipe at her with its claws.

Mami had been waiting for that. Resisting the kick of adrenaline, she flicked her wrist, and a heavy rope of tightly woven ribbons impacted against the white figure. The force was enough to send it backwards, smashing it against a large tree.

The girl reminded herself to breathe. _Still alive._

The demon's form was sprawled against the tree only for a moment before it recovered. Silently, it pointed a hand at her, and a tight bundle of bright, deadly rays shot at her. Mami raised a magically-gloved hand and deflected it - and stifled a cry of sudden pain, as her palm felt like it had been wiped with oil and set on fire. Immediately, she dismissed and re-summoned the ribbon-glove, and the burning sensation diminished.

The demon fired again, this time spreading the series of lasers out so much that she had no hope of catching them all. All she could do was frantically twist out of the way. If even the specially-prepared glove nearly failed her, there was no way she was going to even try deflecting separate rays with multiple free ribbons. Not against this beast.

As she turned and regained her footing, her left index finger traced a line of magic. A fountain of lights sprang up within a four-meter circle around her. The lights quickly dimmed, their power draining into the intended effect of her spell: a circular protected area, glowing faintly.

Costly on the soul gem, the spell didn't often find use any more. Mami had learned that for personal protection ribbons were usually enough. Even so, she considered it an essential part of her skillset, to save any victims she found still alive within demonic shadows.

Powerful beams struck at her, several times. The energy barrier held under the bombardment, but the consumption of power was almost frightening.

Mami threw several ropes at the demon in quick succession. They anchored themselves to the ground, immobilizing the demon for a few precious seconds. Quickly, she took out one of her spare grief cubes, and restored her soul gem. It wasn't very tainted yet, but keeping herself at full capacity at all times was the cautious way; this translated into more power, faster reaction times, and even, it seemed to her, clearer thinking.

She probably had the breathing space to use Tiro Finale now, and, if the demon kept up that kind of attack, she'd actually have to, before the barrier gave way. Or before the repeated drain forced her to use up a full cube. Filling a grief cube completely would likely summon Kyubey, which would lead to a meeting with Homura-san and the potentials, and Mami wasn't quite ready for that yet. She wanted to exorcise her private demons first.

She'd seen that clawed hand in her dreams the previous night.

As if in response to that thought, the white figure charged again. The protected area would have kept out a few young demons for at least a short while, but this one was barely slowed, before striking as if to carve her face off with those claws.

Again, she managed to throw it back with a ribbon-rope.

It rushed at her again, feinting on the way to avoid getting entangled. Mami took a step back within the protective circle, to give herself an extra split second, to be certain of the angle of attack. Then she slapped the monster back again. This time, she managed to create a light musket and fire it before her enemy could recover. She hit her target, but the impact had no visible result.

The demon floated into the air, then dove downwards. She pushed it away again, and fired another bullet.

And again.

Mami lost track of time. Her attention was entirely in the present moment, taking cautious steps sideways and backwards within her circle, focused on keeping the enemy from reaching her with those sharp claws, and, when possible, following up with a fast musket response. A mistake could be fatal. But Mami had fought alone for two years; learning to manage risk had been a necessity.

She was determined to see this risk pay off. The city of Mitakihara needed her, and the previous night's fight made it painfully obvious how inexperienced she was against the new threat. Not that she lacked talent or power, but almost all her experience had involved distance-fighting against young demons, who were very straightforward enemies. These invaders from the wilds were unpredictable, capable of sneak attacks and close combat and who knew what else. She couldn't afford to freeze up. She needed a trained, instant response for whenever one rushed her in the future. A reflex.

She'd spent all morning in one of the unattended construction areas she used for training, trying out various ideas: kinetic barriers, experimental ammunition for her guns, using muskets as melee weapons (they could have hard edges!), attaching a bayonet (she quickly decided that just wasn't her style), a few others. But in the end her earliest magic - ribbons - was the fastest and most reliable, and she ended up practicing for hours, until she could instantly give them the weight and momentum necessary to reliably push away a demon. After that she spent a while longer doing drills of the follow-up musket shot.

Then, come evening, she went out to try it on regular demons, hoping for some light practice - but instead, she ran into this creature. It was dangerous for a solo live fire exercise, but, since she had no choice but to fight it anyway...

But now she'd played with fire long enough. She pushed the demon away one last time, and before it could attack again, she rapidly followed with a second rope. Then another, and another, until she was able to hold the monster down, all wrapped up in the strongest ropes she was able to make.

Mami studied it for a moment, bracing herself. She didn't want to use the Tiro Finale this time. That was a distance technique, and she needed to overcome her dependence on distance: both in terms of combat technique, and psychologically.

The thing was larger than her, lying in the grass like a fallen colossus. The partly formed face seemed permanently contorted with rage. As she walked closer, she could hear a low, barely perceptible wail that made the air vibrate and distort. The howl didn't seem soft in volume, but rather its pitch seemed almost below her hearing threshold. If there was such a thing as pure hatred expressed in sound, that felt like it.

When she was two steps away, the demon started thrashing about violently, straining the ropes, as if the proximity of a magical girl was intolerable to it. Mami reinforced the bindings and managed to keep her target in place, but the noise didn't abate. She remained on her toes, muscles primed to immediately jump out of range. By her usual standards this was almost needlessly reckless. Kyouko would have approved, though.

She pressed her palms together, ignoring the lingering pain of the attack she'd absorbed. Then she spread her hands in opposite directions, creating a heavy musket between them. With deliberate calm she pressed the muzzle of the powerful weapon point-blank to the unnatural head. She aimed exactly at the dividing line between the part with articulated facial features, and the unreal-looking, blocky parts, which seemed to consist of magical rectangles falling out of the inside of the head.

She made herself stare into the horror's face, and fired. The force of the shot blew the head off in a stream of blocky bits.

The now-headless demon vanished slowly, and there was finally silence. Empty ribbons collapsed to the ground, and vanished also. The shadow lifted, restoring the park to its normal, if somewhat run-down, state.

A small black cube dropped to the ground with a soft thud.

Breathing deeply, Mami wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. She stepped forward and squatted to pick up the grief cube, held it up between her fingers, feeling the metal-like weight and texture. Then her flushed face lifted, eyes taking in the surroundings again as if she was seeing them for the first time. She straightened up. The black cube, the neglected park pathway, the sparse benches with the frayed paint, the outline of nearby trees and farther buildings against the evening sky - it was all somehow a wonderful sight.

She chuckled at herself and pocketed the trophy. The surge of relief after the tension of the fight ebbed away pleasantly, giving way to a glow of pride.

_"Had fun?"_

Mami whirled in place, surprised by the telepathic voice. Movement drew her attention; two girls were waving at her from the edge of the roof of a nearby building, outside the park's main gate. She waved back, a bit embarrassed.

_"You could say that."_

One of the girls said something to the other. Her partner stood up, took her under her arms, then stepped off. Huge white wings appeared to break their fall before they landed on the pavement.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Homura was going to introduce Madoka, though only as a formality; of course Mami knew who she was, and they knew she knew. She decided to let Mami speak first, though.

Before either of them could do anything, Madoka rushed forward and reached for Mami's hand, took it in both of hers. The magical girl stiffened momentarily.

"How badly are you hurt, Tomoe-san?" Madoka asked, lifting it to look at the palm.

"I'm fine, Kaname-san", Mami said, recovering, and not at all displeased. Then she looked down and blinked in surprise. The hand looked a bit... cooked.

"It's a second degree burn", Madoka said.

Perhaps it was. Redness and blisters. Her skin was starting to _seriously_ itch. All in all, not too bad for such a powerful attack. A normal human's hand would have been fried. Mami's hand would have been fried, for that matter, if it hadn't been for the glove.

The shorter girl continued, looking around towards the busier part of the city. "It would be best to get this cooled first. Where can we get clean, cold water around here?"

"She'll be all right, Madoka", Homura said. "This sort of thing tends to look bad, but it heals in hours if your soul gem isn't exhausted."

"That's right", Mami said, gently extracting her hand from Madoka's hold. Of course she could just do a brute force healing to get her hand back to normal quicker, but that was costlier. And pain was a good teacher. Still, having someone fuss over her injuries was... new. "But thank you for your concern, Kaname-san."

Madoka knew, from observing Homura in the previous timeline, that a demon's burn would heal quicker even for a magical girl if you took out the heat early, but it was clear Mami would consider further attention to her injury unwelcome.

"Of course", she said, and bowed a little. "Please excuse my poor manners, Tomoe-san."

"Not at all. Though we did do things a little out of order, didn't we?" Mami said with good humor. "Please call me Mami. I'm glad to finally meet you." She inclined her head as well.

"Me too! I am Madoka. Let's be friends, Mami-san." A warm smile came to her face unbidden. Madoka had missed this girl, too.

Such disarming directness. Mami couldn't help but return the smile. "I think I'd like that."

Homura said "Nice work with this demon, by the way. Though I didn't expect you to drag it out that much."

"Thank you. But, if you don't mind my asking, how did you find me? Did you follow the miasma trail too?" Mami motioned in the general direction of the street leading to the park gate.

"Not really. I've never learned to do it that way", Homura said.

"Oh?"

"I hunt differently. But I was nearby when you started using magic." _I do know your usual patrol routes._ "I was ready to help if you needed it, but you seemed to be enjoying yourself. Testing new techniques?"

Enjoying herself wouldn't be quite what Mami would call it, except maybe that moment when it was over. But she didn't mind hearing the situation framed in that way.

"That's right. It's such a difference when you're prepared. Still, it was nice to have backup", Mami said. "Even if I didn't know I had it."

Madoka wondered if that was meant as a complaint towards Homura. "But it would take some realism out of the exercise if you knew about the backup, wouldn't it?"

Homura nodded. Past experience said Mami was at her strongest, at her most mindful, when she was alone - or when she thought she was.

"That is actually a good point, Madoka-san", Mami conceded after a brief pause. "In that case, thank you for securing me and _not_ telling me about it."

"That doesn't mean it was easy to just sit and watch", Madoka added. "But I trusted you both knew what you were doing."

Mami rewarded her with a smile. "It seems we did."

Homura was in fact a little surprised by how well Mami had done this evening. In the previous timeline she'd noticed that magical girls had become less dangerous in the new world, less impressive. Not in terms of raw power - Mami, for example, was still a little stronger than her in that sense, though the gap had narrowed considerably during the timeloops. But demons, though more numerous than witches, were a more predictable enemy. They didn't inflict the harrowing experience of a witch barrier, different every time, requiring - and therefore stimulating - perceptiveness, adaptability, quick thinking. And territory wars among magical girls were limited (though not eliminated) by the way a bunch of demon grief cubes was a more easily divided spoil than a single grief seed.

It was a somewhat gentler world, producing softer magical girls, and Mami Tomoe had been no exception. Until now. This was very much like the Mami she remembered: a lethal threat could surprise her, but if she lived, she learned from it.

It wasn't the first time the thought struck Homura that this was a quality to emulate. How many times had she let Mami tie her in ribbons by surprise, without ever learning to prevent it? She could remember at least three times. Would Mami have been this slow to learn if she'd been the one trapped in the timeloop, with so many opportunities to re-try the same thing?

Then again, they each had their strengths. In her place, Mami would have broken down or gotten herself killed on a number of occasions where Homura had endured. Unwanted images came to her mind. The gigantic witch-Madoka, after she one-shot Walpurgisnacht and then turned within minutes... merely standing less than a kilometer away from that monstrosity would have blackened most people's soul gems, from the sheer mental assault of its presence. Homura herself hadn't dared prolong that timeline's existence for more than a minute.

In the end, it was neither Homura Akemi nor Mami Tomoe who found a way out for them all. The thought brought mixed feelings of shame and gratitude towards the girl standing next to her. The one she was supposed to protect.

"Uh, Homura-san?" Mami's words made her realize she was staring into space. Conversation had stalled for a moment while Homura was reminiscing. At least she was confident her face hadn't betrayed much.

"Uh, sorry. Anyway, Mami-san, I'd like to apologize for yesterday. Leaving so abruptly was rude of me, and probably seemed strange."

"Please don't worry about it. I just didn't know that Madoka-san's name would mean anything to you. Am I right that you two are old friends?"

"Well, yes. I reacted like I did because I had reasons to think she... wasn't around any more. I can't tell you how happy I am to be wrong." Homura's next words were careful. "But it's a long and unpleasant story that I'd rather not go into right now."

 _So much for things becoming less mysterious,_ Mami thought.

"I don't mean to pry. But, this reminds me."

She reached into a secure pocket of her magical outfit and retrieved a grief cube. It was unusually valuable, the charge perhaps good enough to restore a blackened soul gem fully. The regular demons she was used to fighting left much weaker vessels, with perhaps ten or more required to restore Mami's capacious soul gem.

"I think this should belong to you, Homura-san."

"That's from yesterday?"

"Yes. We got distracted, and then you left before we could discuss it."

Homura frowned. "We both worked for it, and you are the one who got the actual kill."

"That's kind of you, but we both know you deserve it more. Besides, I appreciate you spotting for me today; it gives you some claim on this kill as well. So let me keep this one and you take yesterday's, all right?"

Mami extended her hand with the cube.

Homura looked at her, and for a moment Mami didn't know what to make of her expressionless gaze. Then the other girl smiled faintly. "All right. Thank you." Homura reached and let Mami drop the cube into her hand, then pocketed it.

Mami wondered why that made Madoka seem particularly happy.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

At Madoka's suggestion, they continued their conversation over a meal. They found a restaurant not too far away, one which happened to serve a particular spicy ramen-like dish that Madoka knew both Homura and Mami would like - they'd eaten there in the last timeline and enjoyed it, before Homura broke off from Mami and Kyouko completely.

Madoka herself was here in the flesh for the first time, and now she was secretly regretting not ordering something else. Well, the soup wasn't bad. It was just a little... much.

But watching Homura and Mami enjoy it was a pleasure in itself.

"So, do you plan on joining our team, Madoka-san?" Mami asked. The place wasn't crowded, but there were other people around.

Homura's chopsticks froze momentarily on the way from her mouth back to the bowl.

"I haven't decided yet", Madoka said simply.

Homura closed her eyes for a moment. She carefully bit into the egg she'd just put in her mouth, and swallowed.

"It certainly isn't an easy decision", Mami granted. "What about Miki-san? Is she as well-informed as you?"

"Sayaka-chan doesn't know about these matters at all", Madoka said, and added, in the tone of explanation, "She only met Homura-chan yesterday".

"I don't believe Madoka or Miki-san will need to risk themselves in that way", Homura stated. "You and I are enough for this city." _And Madoka has more than done her part for all of us_ , she thought.

"I hope you're right", Mami said. "Kyouko - my friend from Kasamino - let me know that we'll be getting more of what we saw today."

"Are other cities being invaded like this?" Madoka asked.

"She didn't say. I expect she can tell us more when she arrives, and Kyubey will surely know something. But with two of these pests on consecutive days, we already know something unusual is going on. We might need help."

"We'll prepare", Homura said, fighting down memories of past conversations like this. "But for now, how about we don't drag Sayaka Miki into this? Her potential isn't high, anyway, and I'd rather not put a complete rookie up against things that give even experienced people trouble."

"Well, that's one point of view," Mami said. "On the other hand, suppose she ends up joining us anyway, and then things really get bad. It's just a thought, but she might wish we'd given her an earlier chance to get at least a little experience."

Madoka remained silent. She knew Homura would have liked to simply keep Sayaka in the dark, but even if they persuaded Mami not to approach her, there was always Kyubey, who could not be controlled.

Homura said "I know. But at this point these are just what-ifs. We should get back to this when we know more."

"I can't disagree with that", Mami said. "Hm... tomorrow's Friday... would you like to come to my place on Saturday? I expect Kyouko to be here by then, so if you let Miki-san know she's invited, we can have a general meeting."

The other girl glanced at Madoka, who nodded. "Sounds good", Homura said, nodding as well.

"Great. Now that that's settled", Mami said, and grinned slightly, "how shall we continue this wonderful evening?"

"Do you have any more patrolling to do?" Homura asked.

Mami masked a sense of disappointment. "It seems peaceful enough tonight, but I would like to make a few spot checks before I'm done".

"Moving around by subway?"

"Yes."

"Well, let me take Madoka home, then I'll call you and catch up."

"Can I have your phone number as well, Mami-san?" Madoka asked, taking out her cell phone. "It might be best if we can all contact each other easily."

"Good idea, Madoka-san", Mami said, and dug out her own phone.

They finished their meal, and Mami parted with them for now.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Homura would fly Madoka home, but first they wanted to talk.

" _Saturday. We need to make up our minds by then how much to tell everyone_ ", Homura sent as they walked down a shopping street. Passers-by were still frequent, but not a crowd.

" _We should stick to our first instincts_ ", Madoka responded. _"Witches are a thing of a past that never happened. No need to bring back scars from wounds that will never be inflicted."_

They had both given that question some thought. The old Universe had been completely remade. Nothing remained except the few items in Homura's shield, which didn't matter - and the memories in her and Madoka's heads. But once they'd lived out their lives, even those would be gone.

Homura nodded grimly. _"I agree. Let the past stay dead and forgotten."_

They paused at a busy intersection. An oblivious pedestrian was about to walk past them and into the traffic.

"Hey, you, stop!" Madoka called, her voice rising in volume as she wasn't sure the girl had heard her.

The passerby, who had taken just one step into the street, froze, startled, then quickly stepped back on the sidewalk. The girl looked like a college student. She smiled weakly at Madoka, said "T-thanks!" before looking away. She fidgeted, waiting for the light.

Homura just shook her head.

Once they'd crossed the street, Homura added _"Besides, it's safest to assume everything we say will reach Kyubey eventually."_

_"Kyubey?"_ _  
_

_"I told him last time"_ , Homura said, _"but I've come to think that might have been an error. Kyubey's clever. I don't know what he'll come up with, given enough time. So I think it's best if he doesn't know that soul gems are supposed to spawn witches."_

Madoka gave her a look. _"Um, Homura-chan... he already knew that much."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Do you remember where soul gems come from?"_

_"Huh? Well, of course. They form when Kyubey grants you a wish."_

_"I mean, where they came from in the first place. I don't actually know if you know everything Kyubey showed me. Did you ever discover how it all started?"_

Oh. Of course. Incubators designed the soul gem. They started the whole cycle thousands of years ago. For a reason.

_"You're saying... that they remember that soul gems are supposed to produce witches - that's how they made them, and what they introduced them to Earth for. They just don't know why it doesn't actually happen."_

Madoka nodded. _"Right. They continue the cycle because demons showed up instead, and that's better than nothing."_

_"So... Kyubey made a fool out of me once again? When he was talking about how there isn't any evidence for what I was telling him. I mean, the fact that what they expected doesn't happen is evidence, isn't it? Not proof, but evidence."_

_"He was just trying to get you to say more, Homura-chan. And he didn't lie. All they know is that soul gems should turn into witches, but don't. They don't know why; out of all the possible guesses, they have no evidence specifically for_ me _."_ She smiled. _"And I'd prefer not to get that kind of attention."_

_"Oh, definitely."_

A red light stopped them at the next street crossing. There were no cars, though. The air felt strangely still.

 _"But if you're worrying about Kyubey and witches, don't"_ , Madoka said quietly.

Homura got goosebumps for no reason she could name. Something was... not right. She turned to the other girl, noting the upright posture, a thin, determined mouth, a clear gaze seemingly fixed on something far ahead.

Before Homura could think of something to say, Madoka winced in sudden pain, closed her eyes.

"Are you all right?" Homura took a step closer.

Madoka just raised an open palm, gestured for time. Moments later, her face relaxed. She opened her eyes and smiled at Homura apologetically.

"Sorry, Homura-chan. Headache."

Ah.

"Could you _please_ stop doing that to yourself?"

"I know, I know. I'll stop", Madoka said. "It's just that, I know I'm right, but I wish I were able to recall it in more detail, so that you knew you could trust me on this." She switched to telepathy again: _"Up there, I remember this... utter conviction. I'd let nothing usurp me or interfere with my work. I could see all futures, and nothing could possibly surprise me. I'd see it coming millions of years before, if necessary. And I think you can safely keep faith in that, regardless of anything else."_

Madoka motioned for them to keep moving. Right as she did that, the streetlights changed to green. They crossed the street.

The eerie feeling passed.

Homura accepted her friend's assessment without question, but still felt a little disturbed. For a moment she seemed to see a glimpse of a different Madoka, hinting at a harshness that Homura didn't remember in her. It made her wonder what exposure to eternity would eventually do to someone even as gentle as Madoka Kaname. One had to think about the scope of such a mind: a goddess conterminous with all time and space. Nothing secret. All things known.

Known to a girl powerless to alleviate all but a fraction of the suffering she could see in the Universe.

It made her question if Madoka would have even wanted to keep all her memories upon incarnating herself, if she had the choice.

_"Regardless of anything else? Is there something bothering you?"_

_"I let Sayaka-chan die. Last time, I mean. I don't really understand this, Homura-chan. I know I had a brief chance to do something, in that moment of change, when everything was fluid and unfixed, and I decided that she wouldn't have wanted me to negate her wish."_

_"Maybe she really wouldn't have."_

_"Well, I'm not going to watch her die with folded arms. Can you help me?"_

_"You needn't even ask, Madoka."_

Madoka reached and squeezed her hand gratefully. Homura squeezed her back. They walked in silence for a while.

"By the way", Madoka said aloud, as she glanced fondly at their reflection in a shop's window. "When we were with Mami, you were thinking of slipping up and leading Sayaka-chan to contract, just so that I'd be even less needed to defend the city, weren't you?"

There was a moment of silence. Homura knew Madoka couldn't use their telepathic connection to read her private thoughts. It didn't work that way.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, I know I don't need to say this, but please don't do that, Homura-chan."

"I won't. It was just a thought", Homura said. "Unlike a certain friend of yours, I'm smart enough to know I'm allowed an unworthy thought every now and again."

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Madoka woke up suddenly, finally realizing what had felt vaguely wrong. The feeling of unease clarified into a coherent thought: their plan to meet Sayaka the next day and warn her assumed that Kyubey wouldn't get to Sayaka first. It was unlikely, there was no obvious reason for it, Sayaka wasn't a particularly valuable prize for Kyubey the way Madoka used to be - but was it safe to just assume everything would turn out all right? Unlikely things sometimes happened. And this timeline, whose oddities Homura and Madoka had yet to fully understand, was the final one. No way to correct mistakes.

Why didn't _Homura_ think of this? After all, she'd had her fill of such surprises - with her, Madoka. Then again, the time traveller was never great friends with Sayaka Miki. It wasn't reasonable for Madoka to expect her to care like Madoka herself did.

"Oh, no," Madoka whispered to herself. "I have to call her. I have to make sure."

It would be embarrassing, of course. It would turn out that nothing bad happened, that Sayaka had no idea what Madoka was talking about, and she'd agree not to make any life-changing decisions until talking to her the next day. And then Sayaka would be annoyed by Madoka's failure to explain - which she couldn't properly do over the phone anyway - and Madoka would feel silly.

This wouldn't slow her down one bit. She just hoped there was still time; apparently she'd slept for almost an hour. She picked up the cell phone.

There was an unread text message from Homura. It was set to expire and autodelete in five hours.

_Go back to sleep. I'm keeping watch on Sayaka, like I used to on you. I'm sorry for breaking my promise to get a full night's sleep._

Madoka stared at the phone's screen. "Homura-chan, I don't deserve you", she whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> This story's on hiatus. I intend to finish it once I've wrapped up some other, easier projects.


End file.
